Portal:Museums

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Introduction

The Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino in Santiago, Chile

A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying and/or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers and specialists. Museums host a much wider range of objects than a library, and usually focus on a specific theme, such as the arts, science, natural history or local history. Public museums that host exhibitions and interactive demonstrations are often tourist attractions, and many attract large numbers of visitors from outside their host country, with the most visited museums in the world attracting millions of visitors annually.

Since the establishment of the earliest known museum in ancient times, museums have been associated with academia and the preservation of rare items. Museums originated as private collections of interesting items, and not until much later did the emphasis on educating the public take root. (Full article...)

Selected museum

Location in Washington, D.C.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), colloquially known as the Blacksonian, is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in 2003 and opened its permanent home in 2016 with a ceremony led by President Barack Obama.

Early efforts to establish a federally owned museum featuring African-American history and culture can be traced to 1915 and the National Memorial Association, although the modern push for such an organization did not begin until the 1970s. After years of little success, a legislative push began in 1988 that led to authorization of the museum in 2003. A site was selected in 2006, and a design submitted by Freelon Group/Adjaye Associates/Davis Brody Bond was chosen in 2009. Construction began in 2012 and the museum completed in 2016.

The NMAAHC is the world's largest museum dedicated to African-American history and culture. In 2022 it welcomed 1,092,552 visitors, and was second-most visited Smithsonian Museum, and eighth in the List of most-visited museums in the United States. The museum has more than 40,000 objects in its collection, although only about 3,500 items are on display. The 350,000-square-foot (33,000 m²), 10 story building (five above and five below ground) and its exhibits have won critical praise. (Full article...)

Did you know...

... that State Auto Mutual's life-size nativity scene was donated to the Museum of Catholic Art and History in 2023 for display at St. Joseph Cathedral?
... that to rebuild the collection of Tāoga Niue Museum in the aftermath of Cyclone Heta, staff searched through rubbish dumps for historic items?
... that for fifteen years Joseph Henry Gest was both the director of the Cincinnati Art Museum and the president of the Rookwood Pottery Company, spending mornings at one and afternoons at the other?
... that before writing The Space Museum, Glyn Jones had never seen Doctor Who?
... that the only known copies of the oyster dress designed by Alexander McQueen for his collection Irere are owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Kim Kardashian?
... that The Citi Exhibition: Manga at the British Museum was the largest exhibition of manga ever held outside Japan?

Get involved

For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Museums-related articles, see WikiProject Museums.

Selected images

Image 1Exhibit planning (from Museum)
Image 2Construction of Titanic Belfast in 2010 (from Museum)
Image 3The old Ashmolean Museum building in Oxford, England (from Museum)
Image 4Classic cars displayed at an automotive museum, which could be considered both a history and technology museum (from Museum)
Image 5Visitors examining fossils displayed at the National Museum of Iran in Tehran, Iran (from Museum)
Image 6Workers rallying at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (from Museum)
Image 7Museum textile storage includes rolled storage racks, hanging wardrobe and garments shelving, and cabinets. (from Museum)
Image 8A curator and exhibit designer dressing a mannequin for an exhibit (from Museum)
Image 9Officials blamed a lack of funding for a 2018 fire at the National Museum of Brazil that destroyed over 90% of its contents (from Museum)
Image 10The Louvre in 1853 (from Museum)
Image 11Paintings arranged in groupings in the "salon style" (from Museum)
Image 12A guided tour group at the Soumaya Museum in Mexico City, Mexico (from Museum)
Image 13Collections storage for three-dimensional historic artifacts. (from Museum)
Image 14Moai figure at the British Museum (from Museum)
Image 15Restoration of a gilded mirror by a conservator (from Museum)
Image 16The Nantong Museum, the first Chinese-sponsored museum (from Museum)
Image 17In museums, paintings, framed and unframed, are normally hung on sliding or fixed racking. (from Museum)
Image 18Archive Processing rooms provide a space for archivists to arrange and describe archival materials to make them accessible to researchers. (from Museum)
Image 19An honours board listing the directors of a museum in Auckland, New Zealand (from Museum)
Image 20An exhibition of the remains of Native Americans at the Royal Ontario Museum in 1908 (from Museum)

Selected type of museum

The National Farm Toy Museum in Dyersville, Iowa, United States.

A toy museum is a museum for toys. They typically showcase toys from a particular culture or period with their history. These are distinct from children's museums, which are museums for children, and are often interactive – toy museums may be aimed at children or adults, and may have interactive exhibits or be exclusively for display. (Full article...)

Subcategories